[2] Before the family Coghen moved to Brussels, they were living from the early 14th century in the city of Diest as merchants and financial stewards.

The Rittweger family was from Altenkunstadt in Bavaria but moved to Brussels at the end of the 18th century when they were officials in the Postal Office of the Austrian Empire.

[7] Before the Belgian Revolution broke out, Coghen was a respected merchant and banker in Brussels;[citation needed] he was Chairman of the Commercial Court and a member of the Advisory Chamber of Commerce.

[citation needed] Dutch Troops had scarcely retreated from the capital of Belgium, when the Provisional Government, on 28 September 1830, named Coghen deputy head of the new Federal Finance commission, until the first meeting of the Congress national.

At this time, it was his determination not to remain a member of the board, which was caused by the opposition in the assembly regarding the project to rebuild the Palace of Justice in Brussels.

The Leopold district project was sponsored by financial companies, particularly by the Civil society for the expansion and beautification of Brussels, of which Coghen was one of the founders.

He was defeated in 1845, when the struggle became more intense between the two parties that divided the country, but he was sent in 1848, by the voters in the same district, to the Senate, where he remained a member until his death.

As Minister of Finance he negotiated and signed on 19 December 1831 an important loan with the London banker Nathan Rotschild that saved the newly born Belgian state from collapse.

[citation needed] In 1851, Coghen returned to public life, this time the Senate; it has not been unusual for aristocrats to be elected directly to that position.

[15] After successfully securing a loan to the Roman Court, Pope Gregory XVI granted him the title of Count.

The first king of the Belgians sanctioned this distinction by giving him the rank of Count for himself and the comital title to his male descendants (Royal Decree December 30, 1837).

Their daughter Laura Mosselman du Chenoy married Fulco Tristano Beniamino Ruffo di Calabria (1848-1901).